The Roadmap Consult™

Start here when you know it’s over.

A 90-minute, no-BS education and strategy session led by an experienced, multi-skilled professional that you BOTH participate in when facing life-changing decisions.

I have intentionally leaned into my decade of out-of-court experience to specifically craft the Roadmap Consult TM to help you avoid defaulting into separate, volatile emotional reactions, conflicting late-night ChatGPT responses and poorly-fitting, borrowed separation stories.

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What a Roadmap Consult™ Is (and Is Not):

What It Is

✅ A 90-minute consult for BOTH of you, focused on information, education, and strategy.

✅ A chance for you BOTH to hear the same reliable information at the same time, in plain language.

✅Mutual work for now structured in the most effective format for the circumstances (in person/virtual/combination) as decided by Lana

✅A supervised connection with you both at the same time for now with possible next steps including private 1-1 work, with each of you separately, if continuing to work together.

✅ A opportunity for you BOTH to understand the big pieces of a separation agreement:

— Parenting - Decision Making, Parenting Schedules
— Income (What You Earn) and Child/Spousal Support
— Property (What You Own - Both +/-)

✅ Practical information and education to help you BOTH develop realistic expectations related to the time it takes and the anticipated costs, including why other professionals may need to be involved (lawyers, accountants, valuators) and how to most skillfully do so

✅ A multi-disciplined, professional assessment of your current dynamics resulting in a recommendation of what process option (Lawyer to Lawyer Negotiation, Mediation, Collaborative Divorce, Parenting Coordination, Arbitration, Court Process) may be most effective for your circumstances

What It Is Not

❌ Not “one and done” - although you may want a quick fix to “done and over” - that is not realistic - this is a solid first step to make the rest of this less chaotic and less expensive.

❌ Not legal advice – I am not acting as a lawyer for either of you and I don’t give legal advice.

❌ Not mediation - yet – no proposals, no negotiation, no agreements - mediation can be a next step, not the starting point

❌Not a way to get a Certificate of Participation- Certificates (related to the new “Early family Dispute Resolution” laws redirecting people to out-of-court work) are tied to genuine efforts within a specific process like mediation

❌ Not therapy or marriage counselling

Two people are sitting at a conference table in a meeting room with a whiteboard and bulletin board behind them. One person, a woman with shoulder-length brown hair, is blurred in the foreground. The other person, a bald man with glasses and a beard, is wearing a gray blazer and is focused on writing on a piece of paper. There are glasses of water on the table.

Who a Roadmap Consult™ Is For

People in Saskatchewan who are:

  • Thinking about separating and want to understand what that would actually involve in real terms.

  • Newly separated, unsure where to start, and scared of “getting it wrong.”

  • A bit further in and realizing they need to take a step back - that they never really understood the big picture, and the current approach isn’t working.

  • Parents who want to protect their kids as much as possible, even when things feel raw and unfair.

  • People who truly understand know they will need help through this experience - they don’t want to wage war if they can help it, but also don’t want to be naïve.

Why Start Here:

(and How Things like EFDR, Approved Service Providers and Certificates Fit In)

Separation and divorce are hard. The unavoidable reality is that many separating people are making major, long-term decisions about how they parent, what happens to their money, where they live, and what they own - all in the midst of a (sometimes unwanted and resented) grief storm.

The old default was:

  • Hire separate lawyers with different backgrounds, focus, and experiences.

  • Get different-at-best and competing-at-worst legal advice.

  • Try to make decisions, avoiding billable hours as much as possible, while exhausted, scared, and overloaded with sorting through stories from friends, family, and the internet.

The new reality:

Since July 2022, Saskatchewan’s changes to separation and divorce laws called “Early Family Dispute Resolution” (EFDR) are redirecting separating people to work with “approved service providers” who are capable of giving clients “Certificates of Participation” in out-of-court services like mediation, collaborative divorce, arbitration, and parenting coordination.

These laws are catching up with what many of us have known for years, starting with out-of-court processes is usually safer and more responsible than going straight to court.

A Roadmap Consult™ is my way of:

  • Giving both of you a shared, realistic picture of what’s ahead, knowing you are likely each in very different places.

  • Skillfully directing you to the most appropriate out-of-court process.

  • Starting you off in the right direction at a time when getting on the same page is often really hard.

People sitting at a desk, writing on sheets of paper with pens, engaging in a discussion or meeting.

What We Cover (In Plain Language):

In your Roadmap Consult™, we’ll typically:

  • Explain the core pieces of a separation agreement:

    • Parenting arrangements and decision-making about your children

    • Child support and spousal support

    • Property and debt

  • Translate legal terms into real-world language so you’re not nodding along to words you don’t understand.

  • Cut through myths, assumptions, and borrowed stories (from Google, TikTok, friends, or that one loud aunt) that don’t actually apply to you.

  • Talk about time and cost in realistic ranges, not fantasy timelines.

  • Flag common mistakes that make things harder and more expensive than they need to be — and how to avoid them.

You don’t need to bring anything except yourselves and a willingness to talk honestly about what life is like right now.

A woman with glasses and long hair sitting at a desk with her arms crossed, using a computer keyboard, with a monitor and various office supplies on the desk, in a room with a blue wall, framed artwork, and a window with natural light.

What Can Flow From a Roadmap Consult™

A Roadmap Consult™ doesn’t ask you to pick a process from a menu while you’re in crisis. Instead, we use what we learn in that 90 minutes to recommend a best-fit path. Here are some of the possibilities that might flow from a Roadmap Consult™ — either with me or with other professionals:

You don’t have to decide any of this before your Roadmap Consult™.

That’s the point — we use that session to design the next step with you, not hand you a menu and wish you luck.

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Watch the video below.

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The information you need and the questions that I have:

Why do you need a Roadmap Consult™?

  • Level the playing field by working with a professional who is uniquely educated and experienced at providing information that addresses:

    → predictable questions
    → common myths
    → misunderstandings

    I’ll normalize some of the stuff you find hard to believe about the experience of separating and this will relieve some of the pressure.

  • A Roadmap Consult helps you avoid the “he said/ she said” and “too many cooks in the kitchen” confusion that happens when many people (with many opinions) are involved (various professionals, clergy, friends, or family members).

  • Because the laws have changed in Saskatchewan, literally no one’s experience prior to July of 2022 will be relevant or useful to you. I’ll help you understand the realistic ‘lay of the land’ so you can make informed choices. I’ll correct misunderstandings you have due to myths or misinformation because the more you’re grounded in reality, the more efficient this process can be.

  • Your Roadmap Consult does not include proposals, agreements, or added pressure. Rather, your Roadmap Consult is the first step—it’s a chance for you to get information and education. You need to walk before you run.

Things we will cover in your Roadmap Consult:

  • What a separation agreement is, when you can start making one, and what goes in it.

  • Commonly used but often misunderstood language and terminology related to separation and divorce: parenting, custody, parenting time, child support, spousal support, and property division.

  • We’ll cut through the myths and assumptions about the experience and language of separation and divorce so you won't feel as intimidated as you do right now.

  • Why separation agreements are often needed — especially for organizations or businesses that will require you to have one to do certain things.

  • Why the old “hire a lawyer and go to court” is no longer an option—and what modern and more effective options are now available.

  • Realistic expectations of the time it may take, the amount it may cost, and the other kinds of professionals you may need work with.

Separation and divorce coach in Saskatoon, Lana Wickstrom, is discussing something at a whiteboard with a client.

Details about the Roadmap Consult:

What do we need to have done or gathered up before our Roadmap Consult?

Nothing. Literally, agree to come, and that’s it. It’s actually better if I am your first stop. That way, you can avoid eating away at your limited goodwill and patience by revisiting uninformed (blind) and uneducated (deaf) promises that you realize you didn’t understand/ can’t keep.

What happens after our Roadmap Consult?

We’ll cover best how to effectively draft a separation agreement, along with realistic expectations about the whole experience, so you don’t burn out with frustration.

What happens after our Roadmap Consult?

We can cross that bridge when we get there. It has to be a good fit for you and for me. I strongly believe that the professional you choose to help you navigate your separation will significantly impact the tone and nature of your separation-—so that means you need to choose wisely. Who knows, maybe you won’t like me. It would really suck to be stuck working with someone you don’t vibe with while you’re doing something really hard.

If you do decide you’d like to continue working with me:

It would be either in mediation or the collaborative process—your Roadmap Consult will help determine the right path for you. If we don’t end up working together, I can help you connect with other professionals and resources that may better fit your circumstances.

How much does a Roadmap Consult cost?

Whether we meet together in-person, virtually, or a combination of both: $450 plus GST for the 90-minute service.

For some perspective, the average hourly rate for a family law lawyer is between $375 and $ 500. Math says that’s $700 to $1000 for a one-hour consult for each of you—so while this is an investment, it’s much more economical than other options.

How much does a Roadmap Consult cost?

Whether we meet together in-person, virtually, or a combination of both: $450 plus GST for the 90-minute service.

What do I get at the end of the Roadmap Consult?

Separation agreements take about a year to get done. This is for a variety of reasons, including learning about money stuff that you didn’t know before and developing an understanding of how to start living in two homes — never mind the emotions that need to be processed at the same time. The Roadmap Consult is a mapping process. At the end of your consult, you’ll have more peace of mind (even though things are perhaps a bit of a sh%t show right now) as a result of knowing what your options are. You’ll leave the Roadmap Consult feeling informed and knowledgeable about taking the next steps in your separation process.

Get Started with a Roadmap Consult

I am currently able to secure a Roadmap Consult for clients within ten work days of being contacted.
I meet with clients via Zoom and in person. To get started, please fill out the form below.

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